by Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

by Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

ATHENS, Ga. -- The NFL's oldest living No.1 draft pick never had his 40-yard dash timed, didn't get invited to New York and had no agent to negotiate his first contract.

But Charley Trippi, now 91 and a longtime Pro Football Hall of Fame member, still remembers the elation he felt when the phone rang April 8, 1945, and Chicago Cardinals owner Charles Bidwill was on the other end of the line. Bidwill had told Trippi on several occasions that he planned on drafting the University of Georgia halfback, who became a national sensation after the 1943 Rose Bowl.

That was most of what Trippi knew about his prospects, however, in an era when scouting was still in its infancy and the draft was really just an informal gathering of owners at a hotel in New York taking names off a chalkboard. Back then - nine years after Jay Berwanger was the first player taken in the first draft - there was no combine, no Wonderlic Test, hardly any news media coverage at all.

So when Bidwill called to inform Trippi that he had come through on his promise, it was a major milestone for the then-23-year old, who had already gotten married and started a family.

"If you were the No. 1, 2 or 3 back then, you got a pretty good contract," Trippi says. "I wanted security. I had a lot of responsibility taking care of my wife and child at that time. Of course, being chosen No. 1 was a big deal back then, and it still is."

That might be the only thing Trippi has in common with players who will be part of the modern-day draft spectacle at Radio City Music Hall starting Thursday.

In fact, between the time Trippi was drafted and made his debut for the Cardinals, he played two more seasons of college football, played 106 games of minor league baseball and was the No. 1 draft pick of the All-America Football Conference, which had formed in 1946 as a competitor to the NFL.

"I was really on the go," Trippi says. "When I look back at it, I think I was crazy for doing it."

DELAYED BY WWII

Though the draft itself was not the national obsession it is today, Trippi was no less a star than current top picks. The Pittston, Pa., native had come to the South out of high school - turning down Notre Dame, in the process - on the recommendation of Harold Ketran, a former Georgia player who had opened a Coca-Cola bottling plant in nearby Wilkes-Barre.

Ketran gave Trippi a job driving Coca-Cola trucks in the summer, and Trippi soon delivered a victory in the Rose Bowl, outshining teammate and Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich as the star of the game.

That put Trippi on the map as a potential No. 1 pick, but soon after the Rose Bowl, the government significantly expanded its World War II manpower and Trippi was drafted into the Air Force.

Because of his football ability, Trippi never went overseas. In fact, his only function in the military was to travel around with the Third Air Force football team and play teams at other bases across the country.

"I never held a rifle," he says. "We entertained the troops."

Trippi also had participated in the Chicago College All-Star game, where a team of the best amateurs played the NFL champions from the previous year. That's where his relationship with Bidwill began, and with the Cardinals going winless in 1944, the decision was made to pick Trippi first.

"He said, 'I'm gonna get ya,'" Trippi recalls. "He wanted me to play for him, and I said, 'All you've got to do is draft me and I'm ready.'"

The Cardinals drafted Trippi just before he got out of the service in 1945, but with relaxed eligibility rules because of the war, he could still play college football and get his degree, which was important to him. That decision only increased Trippi's value, as he won the Maxwell Award in 1946, finished runner-up to Army's Glenn Davis in the Heisman voting and led Georgia to an undefeated season culminating with a Sugar Bowl victory.

When New York of the All-American league drafted him No. 1 as well, Trippi had a decision to make - and a lot of leverage, which was important in an era when players weren't unionized and didn't have agents to help them negotiate.

Trippi felt the NFL was more established and stable, but he was in position to command a huge contract and asked for a guaranteed four-year deal worth a total of $100,000 (roughly $1.2 million in today's dollars) with a $25,000 signing bonus.

"It only took us five minutes to come to an agreement. I told (Bidwill) what I wanted; he said, 'You've got it,'" Trippi says. "I wanted security. I had a clause in there: If I got hurt, I'd get paid for the duration of the contract. I had a family. I had to feed them."

Bidwill also allowed Trippi to pursue baseball if he wanted. The Atlanta Crackers offered Trippi a $10,000 signing bonus to play in 1947, and he hit .334 while drawing huge crowds to see the "Italian Stallion."

"I was ready for the big leagues, really," Trippi says. "But I was already established as a football player. People didn't know a darn thing about my baseball ability. I couldn't do both with all the travel. It was too tough. I felt like I had probably better ability as a football player."

That belief was confirmed when Trippi, as a 26-year-old rookie, made the all-pro team and led the Cardinals, with their "Million Dollar Backfield," to the NFL championship. Few No. 1 draft picks have lived up to their promise that quickly.

Trippi played nine seasons in the NFL, all for the Cardinals, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

NOT INTERESTED IN DRAFT

During his playing career, Trippi began investing in Georgia real estate, which he turned into a lucrative side business as a developer. After spending a handful of years in coaching, both in the NFL and at Georgia, he turned his attention to real estate full time.

"If I had to do it over, I'd concentrate more on real estate than football," he said. "I had money to invest rather than just put it in the bank, and it turned out real good. I never stayed pat. I was always looking for something."

Today, he remains an icon in his adopted home of Athens, living with his wife, Margaret. Though Trippi says he isn't involved in the Georgia program in an official capacity, he attends every home football game, where he enjoys a status only Herschel Walker can rival locally.

Trippi finds it more difficult to relate to what the NFL and the draft have become.

"It's big, big money now. It's so big," he says. "I watch it vaguely now. I'm not really interested in the draft like I was."